1. Field of Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to connector assemblies used to construct appliances and structures, and more particularly to a sliding connector assembly for rigid construction of prefabricated structures.
2. Related Art
Various types of connector assemblies are known and used in construction of appliances and structures to provide releasable connections between one or more structural components. For example, pin and slot connectors have been used to connect deck blocks formed of strips of lumber of essentially equal length that are laterally disposed side by side. (Refer to U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,858 issued to Rehbein.) Hook and rail connectors have been used to construct modular knockdown structures. (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,988 issued to Theodorou.) V-shaped, slotted cross-brace connectors have been used to assemble plank grating for decking, flooring, or sub-flooring in which the V-shaped, slotted cross-braces are inserted through openings and rotated to an assembled position. (See U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,243 issued to Dahlin) Finally, trapezoid-shaped connector assemblies have been used to construct items such as bathroom fixtures, lamp brackets, and machine mounts as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,356,745 issued to Schwartz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,917 issued to Wu and U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,514 B1 issued to Williams.
Advantages of these aforesaid connectors include ease in manufacturing and ease of assembly for the structures in which they are used. Often the structures may be built with few tools. In such designs, the fits and tolerances are consistently and intentionally very loose. These loose fits and tolerances are what make the devices easier to manufacture and easier to fit together in assembling structures.
However, in each case, these necessarily loose fits and manufacturing tolerances associated with each connector create significant disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that in many of them, locking devices, such as pivot pins, grub screws, levers and the like, must be used to finally, securely and rigidly mate opposing connector parts together. Often, these locking devices must be installed using hand tools, a process that may be time-consuming and challenging for the manufacturer or for the do-it-yourself customer. Furthermore, the extra parts required may be lost or damaged during the shipping or assembly.
Another disadvantage is that the “looseness” inherent to these systems requires that construction systems using these connectors sacrifice strength, rigidity and resiliency to achieve ease of assembly. Such structures must be relatively imprecise in fitting together for assembly. They may not be dimensionally consistent at all joints. Therefore, the overall lengths that result from joining several structural components may vary unpredictably. This renders them unsuited for use in building complex structures such as residential decks, with rails and stairs, particularly those capable of repeated assembly and disassembly by hand without the use of tools.
Such connectors also tend to become progressively looser, weaker, and less rigid when subjected to loads and vibrations. Moreover, such structures cannot comply with strict construction safety standards as are demanded for residential use.
Further, although the connector parts and their associated locking devices may be designed with loose tolerances, they are still complex to manufacture and assemble, requiring secondary forming operations and assembly, and/or separate packing of multiple parts.
Finally, of the prior art, no trapezoidal slide based design is capable of rigidly joining faces of two opposing parts.